Antiwar Mass Assembly - 8th October 2011, London

inminds13 October 2011

The Stop the War Coalition organised an AntiWar Mass Assembly in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 8th October 2011 to protest the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan. Some of the speeches and photos from the rally as presented below.

Thousands attend the rally at Trafalgar Square

Our world needs YOU to end war

Crowds at Trafalgar Square

All war is child abose

Crowds at Trafalgar Square

Speeches at rally in Trafalgar Square

Hetty Bower, 106 years young peace campaigner

" So we are at war.. this is where the lies begin.."

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks

" War by media.. Let us ask ourselves what is the average death count attributed to each journalist?"

John Pilger, journalist and documentary maker

" For such journalists there are two types of humanity in war.. there are worthy victims and unworthy victims.."

George Galloway, Stop the War Coalition

" Orwell said in 1984 Eurasia has always been at war with Oceania.. lets hope we are not still here 10 years from now!"

Jemima Khan, Human Rights Campaigner

" There comes a moment where you have to ask what is more dangerous - terrorism or counter-terrorism?"

Lauren Booth, Sami Ramadani & Yvonne Ridley

Joan Humpheries, grandson killed in Afghanistan

" He was killed not by Afghanis, but by the British and American governments.. they have total responsibility for his death"

"1763 in the Ohio river valley you got Lord Jeffrey Amherst committing to written order an instruction to his subordinate Henry Bouquet, having been defeated by Pontiac Ottawa confederacy in the field. The order essentially says that they have been defeated militarily and is therefore necessary for Amherst forces to request a peace, to sue for peace from Pontiacs people. He instructs Bouquet to convene a parlay with the Indian leadership for that purpose. And as is the custom, as is common courtesy among native populations as was known to the Brits at that time, it would be necessary for those who requested the council to give gifts to those requested to attend. Make those gifts, Amherst says, items taken from a smallpox infirmary in order, I'm going to quote directly now, this isn't a paraphrase: 'in order that we may extirpate this execrable race'. Now key is on this last word, had he said that we might eradicate the opposing combatants, their military capacity, their warriors.. what ever term he wanted to use, it would have been biological warefare. But he didn't say anything about that, he said the 'race'. His intent was to use biological means, to use disease, quite explicitly so, to eradicate an entire population group. And Bouquet was also kind enough to commit to writing in his response the next day, I have done as instructed, dispersing three blankets, two handkerchiefs and sundry other items, hopefully, he says, they will have the desired result. They did.. the lowest estimate of the number of people who died of smallpox as a result of that little gesture of friendship and goodwill is a 100,000!"